Not only is the man an entertainer, the Couch Slouch, Norman Chad, seems to have his mind in the right place.

Using his syndicated column — one I regularly find on WashingtonPost.com — the Slouch proceeded to explain his repeated denial to the University of Maryland, his alma mater, of any funds from his pocket to theirs. He, like many other scholarly minds, is fed up with D-I universities repeatedly cutting other scholar programs (in this case he mentions the media journal, American Journalism Review, run by the UMD Foundation) and giving their sports programs multi-million dollar boosts.

The man is onto something.

• Bonds hit career number 754 Friday night, making it only a matter of time before he finally puts one out on the road, gets booed by everyone, including Bud Selig (quietly, under his breath anyway), and hates the world that much more. At least one teammate is calling for the Dodgers, the Giants’ lead rival, to show B-squared some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
• Tony Taylor, a co-defendant in the dogfighting trial involving Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick among others, took a deal today to plead guilty and work with the prosecution to pin down the NFL star. This is bad news for Vick, of course, not only because it’s pitting a former friend against him, but this gives another reason to the ”guilty until proven innocent” (PETA, Nike, Reebok, NFLShop, etc.) bandwagon to ride on. Heard it best this morning on Mike and Mike in the Morning from Michael Smith filling in, this is something we haven’t seen even in the trials of Ray Lewis and Leonard Little, star players who went on trial for taking the life of another human… and other than being amazed, I just want to say four important words: Don’t f*#k with PETA.
• Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn accepted their place in the baseball HOF this weekend, becoming two of the classiest men to ever be enshrined. C-Rip did his thing, showing 6-footers they could play SS and TG invented and abused the 5.5 hole (inbetween 3B and SS) until he hung up his cleats. 
• It wouldn’t be a day ending with the letter “y” if KG trade talks weren’t in the news
• Not notable to non DC folks, but the Wiz have given an offer to Andray Blatche, the young could-be-beast in the paint, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years, $9 mil - $12 mil (a few conflicting reports out). The young man’s got talent, he just needs to get more burn, via kissing up to Eddie Jordan and/or punching Brendon Haywood in the face Etan Thomas style.

• Mike Vick pleaded not-guilty yesterday in Richmond, Va. and was not held. Court date set for November 26.
• Is my beloved hometown newspaper, The Washington Post, headed towards the light? This CNN Money report speculates it may be so.
• The Simpsons Movie is finally here. Decades late, of course. Relive some old quotes here.
• The fate of my favorite current Nat, Dmitri Young, could be nearing a conclusion… in the form of a 2 year extension with Washington.
• An idea from an economist of how to solve the NBA’s gambling issues.
• Any Gilbert Arenas blog update is worth noting.

• According to his agent, Kevin Garnett is not interested in being traded to the Celtics. His exact words: “The Boston trade isn’t happening.” I guess KG isn’t interested in a new city, new jersey but the comfort of the same losing record. Maybe if Larry Bird came out of retirement he’d reconsider… maybe.
• Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada is in jeopardy of ending his consecutive games streak after fracturing his left wrist when he was hit by a pitch Wednesday. the O’s left him in the lineup briefly yesterday to extend the streak to 1,152 but they are unsure whether he will continue to tough it out.
• Pacman surrendered to the Las Vegas police and was immediately released on bail. Let’s await the due process and see how this unfolds…

• Pay your respects. “Slammin” Sammy Sosa hit career homer number 600 last night, cementing his 5-spot in all-time home run hitters, and becoming just 1 of 5 ever to reach the 600 mark.  Cubs fans don’t respect the feat. Rangers fans are excited. And Bud Selig is ecstatic that he can now shift his hate from one record-breaking alleged cheater to two. Whether or not Sosa had ”help” getting to this point — and be clear that very little evidence other than the “transforming body theory” exists — the feat is still quite amazing. No need to hate on the people who excel in a sport full of “one-uppers”.
• ESPN’s Marc Stein says the Kevin Garnett trade seems more likely to happen this summer than any with Kobe Bryant. The Lakers are holding strong to their “wouldn’t trade ‘em with your GM position.” What a fun, NBA rumor-filled summer this will be.
• Larry Brown needs more references to get hired, apparently. Makes me think he’s more diva-like than Meryl Streep in “A Devil Wears Prada”.
• Pacman Jones keeps getting implicated and now he’s been indicted on two felony charges. I will not defend his affinity to find trouble in every corner, but let’s not forget he’s “innocent until proven guilty” folks. Let the judicial process work.
• The Chicago Cubs traded catcher Michael Barrett to the San Diego Padres for a backup catcher and a prospect. Here’s a timeline of what helped him catch the boot.

• He’s back! Harold Reynolds sits down for an interview with Deadspin to discuss his ESPN firing and his new MLB.com post.
• From coaching Anthony Anderson on Hang Time to coaching Ron Artest in Sacramento, now-ex New Mexico coach Reggie Theus picked as head coach of the Kings. Pretty surprising considering all the supposed Larry Brown interest.
• Old-school clip of a young Tony Kornheiser and Larry King in 1985 yapping about the Washington Redskins. 
• A round-up of Baltimore Orioles news, including placing the O’s woes not on now ex-coach Sam Perlozzo, but lots of hate thrown at owner Peter Angelos.
• Bill Plaschke asks Lakers fans to cut a hole in their Kobe-love and realize “He’s just not that into you.” Can’t wait for the Kobe rant to hit YouTube!
• TrueHoop gives us the latest on the KG-to-Boston trade rumors.
• Last year’s Wizards first-rounder Oleksiy “Pesh” Pecherov is back in D.C. to stay. Can’t wait to see he and Andray Blatch, two 7-footers, become the new twin towers… in 2010.
• Big Shot Bob, Robert Horry, says the Spurs could beat those old Lakers and Celtics teams. The question is: would Bruce Bowen injure injure the stars, Magic and Bird, in the first quarter or in the pre-game warm-ups?

Yep, I watched it; said I should miss it, but tuned in anyway. I’d be quite surprised to hear of too many other folks following suit, because most fans tuned out of this NBA Finals.

The San Antonio Spurs are your 2007 NBA Champs.

The San Antonio Spurs are your first official dynasty of the new millenium.

Tony Parker showed yet again why he is one of the most elite point guards in the league. Despite his pairing alongside a flurry of Spurs weapons, no matter the game or opponent, Parker always found his way to the paint, making layup after layup. His reward for running through the Cleveland Cavaliers was the 2007 NBA Finals MVP trophy. But win, lose or draw at the end of the day Parker gets to head home to one of the finest actresses in the U.S. of A., Ms. Eva Longoria. Lucky guy, wouldn’t you say?

Manu Ginobli was like the Mariano Rivera of big games. He hit big shots whether or not the other big Spurs were hitting theirs and was a huge part of why the Spurs are such an efficient, all-around team. Once he learns to stop flopping all over the court like he’s in the World Cup and figures out the true definition of “adversity,” maybe then he will get a a bit more camera time he seems to love.

The most noteable role players also deserve tons of credit –

Bruce Bowen always guards the opponent’s best player. He’s dirty, but somehow, some way, finds a way to get the job done. At the end of most games you can find him lingering in the corner beyond the arc, awaiting his favorite spot to hit clutch shos.

Michael Finley, a man who finally wins his first title in 12 seasons (6 total playoff runs), contributed wherever the Spurs needed him. Even at the ripe-old age of 34 he found a way to contribute and his leadership can not be over looked. Finley also provided one of the best interview responses when Dan Patrick asked him where he would put his championship trophy - ”I might just put it in the bed between me and my wife.”

Robert Horry, a seasoned veteran who has a career average of 7.2 points per game, is now a seven-time league champ. Wow. I hereby nominate Horry as the luckiest NBA player ever. In the playoffs he is known as “Big Shot Bob.” Wherever Rob goes, everyone should place bets on his franchise winning the title. He has the lucky touch, always finding the right teams at the right times. If I am a team in need of a general manager, when Horry retires, I’m on the first plane to San Antonio, Houston, L.A. or wherever it is he now calls “home.”

And last, but certainly not least, is the big man known as The Big Fundamental. If you weren’t already aware, Timothy Theodore Duncan is already on his way into the annals of NBA history as one of, if not the greatest, players ever.

After winning a title in 1999, only two years after joining the league, he bounced back after injuring his miniscus before the 2000 playoffs, proceeding to win league titles in 2003, 2005 and now, 2007. For the first three titles, Duncan took the Spurs on his back, thus earning NBA Finals MVP honors each time.

This year he did his part, as usual, in dominating the paint and putting up his points. But more than ever, after leading the way past the Phoenix Suns in the Conference finals, he was able to defer to his teammates and cruise to the title in an easy sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Put Duncan’s numbers, rings and reputation as a teammate up against any big man in history and he will easily stand tall in every sense of the word.

What no one admits to right now is that years from now, there is a strong chance folks may need help remembering The Big Fundamental. He lacks the flair that appeals to casual fans of the game. The Spurs owe it to Duncan’s legacy to put more effort into marketing him to fans outside of Texas. The biggest show of his personality came during this Game 4 series/finals ender, when ABC showed a clip of him dressed as an old Johnny Carson character, wearing a long black wig and mustache, poking fun at assistant coach P.J. Carlisimo. But that seems to be Duncan for you - jokes on top of jokes, but only behind-the-scenes.

Lucky for him, those who write the NBA history books do not need him to appear in any Saturday Night Live skits to be remembered. Nor will they need him to have shoe commercials showing off “the other sides of The Big Fundamental.” Instead, all they will need to do is talk to anyone who either played with or saw him in action.

On the court, with or without the ball in his hands, Duncan is all business. And his now-four titles show — that is all that matters.

DISCLAIMER: If you have not watched the series finale of The Sopranos yet… where’ve you been? Stay away from this post because I’m discussing a little bit about it and unless you like ruined stories, heed this WARNING!

There comes a time in the life of every sports fan where they must choose between sports (type does not matter, be it NBA, NFL or… well, no one generally chooses NHL over anything anymore - if ever) and something else. If we did a study (and we will not, for I will base my conversations with friends and folks throughout my years as qualified “research” and force you to like it), most cases show the lead opponent of watching sports is spending time with a significant (or not-so-significant, dependant on your style o’ dating) other. How do you tell your girlfriend you would rather watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals (situation for this year especially far-fetched) instead of hanging out with her to pick cherries in an orchard (situation overdrawn, far-reaching and made more dramatic — unless you live in a rural area — to be as cheesy a situation that first came to mind)?

Last night’s head-to-head, placed the Garden State Mafioso tales of Tony Soprano against the NBA dynasty conquest mission of LeBron James. The result was a good old-fashined Jersey beatdown, as most rightfully expected.

As talented as “King James” is with a basketball in-hand, the lackluster match-up of his Cavaliers taking on an established dynasty with a complete package team never stood a chance. The exact numbers have yet to be released, but my own choice of Jersey Don over San Antonio Cav beating was one many households followed.

Pressed with a 9 p.m. start time for both the NBA Finals and the series finale of HBO’s most popular TV show of all-time, the burning option in my head was picking which to watch in real-time action.

On one hand, I do have a perfectly functional TiVo with DirecTV which would have allowed me to watch The Sopranos finale after Game 2’s conclusion. Did I take advantage and do just that?

Nope.

Instead, I skipped the first hour of the NBA Finals altogether. No regrets here, either. Ten times out of ten I would have made the same decision.

Yesterday’s Sopranos was a series finale - the last of ten years’ worth of episodes. Down the road, after HBO releases a bunch of flops to try and replace the empire that was the 9-10 p.m. slot on Sunday nights, fans will think back to June 10, 2007, that day when the world sat by the TV in unison, awaiting the fate of our favorite fictional bad guy.

With the 2007 NBA Finals, only after time settles will the Spurs be truly appreciated for what they are — one of the finest, most polished old school NBA dynasties to play the game, which lacked the flair to captivate constant attention of the general sports audience. But Game 2 was not one of those “where were you when…” games for the ages for any reason other than it made fans have to choose whether to witness a sports dynasty in its prime, or a TV dynasty on its final leg of a 10-year marathon.

Whether or not the final leg was a memorable one fans will be debate for a long while. Last night’s episode left quite a bit more ’splaining to do as to the fate of the Soprano family.

Immediately when the episode faded to black, with the Sopranos all piled into a diner and set-up for what seemed to be an “unexpected” whack of the father, I knew David Chase and the Sopranos producers were thinking “DVD sales!” Alternate endings. Bonus scenes. Cast members’ takes on how the show ended.

As a man who studied business in college, I understood and respected their hustle. Their idea was to leave the demand as high as possible to capitalize later when the TV money well runs dry (A&E picked up the show in syndication, and will follow the route of Sex & the City and TBS where they’ll show edited episodes of the Mature-rated show).

As a fan of the show who caught up late but still watched each episode, investing countless time and energy into the show, the “left out to dry” ending was awful.

For ten years, Tony and the gang have been a huge part of a lot of HBO viewers’ lives. They joined my life back in my final summer before my last year of college when I was stuck serving a dull and uneventful summer in Newport News working extra to pay off bills. Working by day, getting caught up on New Jersey’s fictional feisty mafioso tales by night, the time flew right on by.

Last night ended a ten-year run of a great show that seemed to coast into mediocrity in its final season of seven. Dull storylines and a lack of action left fans like myself hoping for an over-the-top finale, fulfilling normal show expectations of wonderful gore and symbolism.

The first three-quarters of the final season were, like a few of the throwaway pointless “dream sequence” episodes, just a figment of the imagination. The final episode included a main boss of the New York family’s murder, a few mindful moments pointing out how much of a failure as a father Tony was, and finally, after a ten minutes too much of wasting shots of Meadow failing to parallel park outside of the diner, the tension built up for a “To be continued…” ending was completely anticlimactic.

Now dedicated fans have to wait and purchase or rent the Sopranos: Season Seven DVD series when it is released to find out the true “ending” to the show. The producers are evil, conniving but astute businesspeople and for that, I speak for fans everywhere who say “thanks for nothing!” in regards to last night’s finale.

As for whether we’d choose the NBA Finals over the Sopranos finale if given another chance?

Forgetaboutit.

• Bill Simmons and the “woe is me… Boston got screwed” entry.
  (I’m old school but can’t say a city is cursed when they have as many titles as Boston. Now those Cubs, they have plenty of reason to burn a couch or two…)
• Keyshawn Johnson Retires, Joins ESPN
• Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert Definitely Staying Put, Green to Go Pro
• ESPN Unveils New NFL Blog “Hashmarks”
• MJ Assault By Wizznutzz
• Why No Super Bowl At FedEx Stadium?

They don’t call him “King James” for nothing.

As it goes with kings, Lebron James has no problem with delegation. Last night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, James delegated shot-taking responsibilites to two of his Cleveland teammates in the final possessions of the game.

The teammates — Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Donyell Marshall — missed both shots and cost the Cleveland Cavaliers a chance of stealing home-court advantage away from Detroit.

After the game, Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson spoke their piece, ripping James for not having the “Let me do it” mentality. The fire. The desire to take over at clutch moments and be selfish with the rock.

Magic, Charles and any other person placing blame on King James are asbsolutely wrong.

In both moments, James held the ultimate decision-making power. In both moments, James ultimately made the right decision.

Why should James be blamed for his teammates’ shortcomings? Even if — this is a HUGE if — James elected to pass the ball rather than shoot just to escape blame, he is still not at fault. Most of the good point guards would have made the same play 9 out of 10 times.

James plays in the National Basketball Association, a league full of professional ball players. Every player’s role is different but they tend to have similar goals: run, pass, catch and shoot and the bottom line is to score more points than the other team.

The Cavs were this close scoring more than than the Pistions, with the final shot for Cleveland coming from Marshall in the corner beyond the arc. Wide open. Click-clack. The rim had its own Under Armor moment and decided “WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!”

With 12 seconds to go, a timeout was called. A play was set. The Cavs executed the play to perfection. Lebron James executed the play to perfection. Donyell Marshall screwed everything up.

Don’t blame the team player for assuming his teammates are out on the floor to contribute. NBA players are constantly accused of selfishness but Lebron was anything but in this case. Despite his status as an NBA superstar, he executed a coach-designed play to perfection, set to go for the win on the road. Yes, a layup was possible, but on the road the odds were against the Cavs.

The media/critic/hater backlash is overblown.

Jesters dance, chefs cook and concubines… well, you get the point.

Kings delegate.

Lebron made the right decision at the end of the game, considering Marshall’s 3-point reliability in the playoffs thus far (remember the 6 threes against the Nets). His status as a superstar is the only reason he receives blame. If Steve Blake or TJ Ford makes the same decision, the blame is placed on the missed shot.

But James is “The Next…” so until he hits buzzer-beaters, game-winners and wags his tongue in the wind, the criticism will continue.

*For some reason this issue reminds me of the Chris Rock special that talks about the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sexual relations incident and jokes, asking how famous one must be to catapult someone who you “mess with” into their own fame…

Greg Oden Will Have Tim Duncan To Credit For #1 Pick
Remember the debates about whether to pick Kevin Durant or Greg Oden? Gone. Oden is the pound-for-pound, undisputed consensus #1 pick. Now that all but 4 teams have faded into the off-season, Tim “The Big Fundamental” Duncan has taken the big stage, yet again, showing how important it is to have a big man on your roster. Lottery teams have no choice but to take notice, especially considering recent history: Duncan and Shaq, the premier big men of the league, hold 7 of the last 8 NBA championship titles.

Wow indeed.

If we can draw the parallel without being punched in the face, skipping over Oden would be 10-times bigger than the Houston Texans skipping over Reggie Bush last year.

Watching the NBA Through A Racial Lens
Henry Abbott, of TrueHoop (via ESPN), posted the thoughts of a poet/author named Sherman Alexie regarding the NBA from a racial point-of-view. It is poignant and very much worth reading. I have a snippet here but for the entire post go to TrueHoop:

I’m positive the anti-NBA reaction is racial AND racist.

First of all, in racial terms, the game has become so black American and internationally dominated that the typical white American fan has nobody special to root for. That’s not racism, but it is racial. And it’s not a problem. If a Native American ever makes it into the NBA, he will instantly become my favorite player because I will racially, culturally, and physically identify with him. I understand and completely accept why so many white guys love Larry Bird, just as I understand why there are 1,000 black kids in Kobe Bryant jerseys at every Laker game played here in Seattle. It’s a tribal thing.

But the racial aspects of fandom can easily become racist. And I think that many white fans, having no player like Larry Bird or even Tom Chambers to root for, have consciously and/or subconsiously turned that lack of a special white player into an indictment of the league in general. And since the league is black it becomes an indictment of blackness.

Read the rest here.